Cricket Rules – Governing Bodies

General Rules & Governing Bodies of CricketCricket is an amazing ball game with a rich history which is played by thousands worldwide, but the rules of cricket are confusing at times, especially if the game is not played in your country. Cricket is played between opposing teams that consist of 11 players. Each team gets a chance to bat and field. When one team bats the other team bowls and fields. The most common formats of the game are five-day cricket and one-day cricket. In five-day cricket each team bats twice, or has two innings, and fields twice during the course of the five days. In one-day or limited-over games, each team bats and fields only once. Before each game the captains toss or flip a coin to decide who bats and bowls first.

The Pitch:The majority of the action happens in the centre of the oval-shaped field, which is called the pitch area. The pitch area consists of two sets of three wooden stumps, or wickets, on either side. The two sets of stumps are 22 yards from one another. About 50 yards from the pitch in all directions a rope appears right around the field to indicate the boundary. Two batsmen always bat together, but only one faces the bowling. He takes guard in front of the stumps on the opposite side from which the fielding side is bowling.

The Bowlers:The bowlers from the fielding side aim to restrict the batsmen from scoring runs, but they attempt to bowl them out, or dismiss them as well. In the official rules of cricket it state that bowlers can dismiss a batsman in nine different ways, which include bowling the stumps over behind the batsman, having the batsman caught or run out when he attempts to score runs. The batsmen always try to stay in as long as possible and score as many runs as quickly as they can. When a batsman is dismissed, or “out,” the next batsman in the batting order replaces him. Role of

The Captain:

The captain decides who on his team bowls, when he bowls, from which end he bowls and how long he bowls. Each bowler bowls one “over” at a time and only from one end of the pitch. An “over” is made up of six straight, over-arm deliveries. After each completed “over” the play switches to the other end of the pitch where a different bowler completes another “over.” A bowler may never bowl two “overs” in sequence.

The remaining fielders stand in specific fielding positions to stop the batsmen from scoring runs and to help to dismiss them.

Scoring:

The score of the batting team is counted in “runs” and it is determined by how many times the two batsmen run between the wickets on both sides of the pitch, or “popping creases,” after hitting the ball. If the ball crosses the boundary rope along the ground after a hit, four runs are counted; if it crosses the boundary rope through the air without touching the ground, six runs are counted. An inning is complete when 10 of the 11 batsmen are dismissed or when a specific number of “overs” is bowled. The latter usually happens in limited-over matches. If a match ends in a no-result after five days of play, for example, it is a “draw” according to the ICC rules of cricket. The team that scores the most runs in a limited-over game wins, while the winner of a five-day match is the team that scores the most runs and dismisses the opposition in both innings.

The International Cricket Council adopted the laws of the game back in the 18th century from the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The ICC follow the laws of the MCC and has added some additional rules and procedures that were felt as necessary amendments.